3001: The Odyssey In Space

By Jim Quinn and Dave Frieze

It was all the turn-of-millennium hoopla, the attention to Kubrick's film, and the pre-9-11 anxiety and optimism about the future. Jim and the students developed this script idea about the ship visiting lost planets and returning to earth.

Most of it took place on the ship as shown. The big "eye" in the center was a signal light, a power source, a warning system, and a kind of "big brother" feature. Weird characters arrived via the "transporter" stage left and did crazy things. Later the whole set went away except for the screens for stops on some strange planets. Not visible is a perspective grid and frame layed out on the portal and legs in blue painters tape. Some of the blue strips can be seen in a few place.

Video projection was becoming feasible with classroom equipment, and at least that technology had to be represented. We had to develop rear-screen projector towers for several shows. For the transporter we filled a thin, clear plexiglass box with fog and the actor stepped up behind it, becoming visible when the fog cleared. Or vice-versa when leaving.